Stab (music)

{{Short description|Single staccato note or chord}} thumb|A single horn stab In music, a '''stab''' is a single staccato note or chord that adds dramatic punctuation to a composition. Stabs may be provided by horns (real or synthesized)—a '''horn stab'''—or an orchestral sample—an orchestra hit—and usually occur on a 1-beat. Stabs are used in a wide variety of music genres including jazz, rock, classical, funk, freestyle, trap, EDM, metal and ska.

There is no standardized notation symbol to specifically indicate a stab. They are most commonly notated as a short note value with a staccato dot, sometimes with the verbal marking "stab".

{{quote|There's a rule of thumb in funk music that says short sounds are better than long: thus the drier the guitar hit, the tighter the horn stab, the slappier the bass, the more clipped the clavinet etc, the better. It's the bits of silence in-between these short events that builds anticipation for the next one - the tension/release principle in rhythmic form.|Steve Lodder<ref>{{cite book |last=Lodder |first=Steve |author-link=Steve Lodder|date=2005 |title=Stevie Wonder: A Musical Guide to the Classic Albums|publisher=Backbeat|page=106|isbn=0879308214}}</ref>}}

Stabs are also used in electronic music in the form of very short snippets of a song used as rhythmic accents in a new composition.<ref>{{cite book |last=Weinel |first=Jonathan |date=2018 |title=Inner Sound: Altered States of Consciousness in Electronic Music and Audio-visual Media |publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=86–87 |isbn=978-0190671181}}</ref> Early breakbeat hardcore, such as The Prodigy's "Fire", and hip hop in general made use of stabs.<ref>{{cite web|author=David M.|date=3 December 2013|title=History of UK hardcore rave music|url=https://www.toucanmusic.com/articles/ukhardcore/|website=Toucan Music|access-date=15 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Marshall |first=Wayne|date=2002 |title=Producing the Real: Hip-hop Music and Authenticity|publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison |pages=50–51 |oclc=608820774}}</ref>

==See also== *Orchestra hit *Punch (music) *Sforzando, the equivalent in classical music

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stab (Music)}} Category:Chords Category:Funk Category:Breakbeat hardcore